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Definite and Indefinite Articles
These will be used in front of nouns. Which one to use is
determined by the number and gender of the noun.
Is it just one item (singular) or more (plural)? Is the noun
considered feminine (i.e. mesa) or masculine (libro)?
el, los (the)
la, las (the)
un, unos, algún, algunos (a, an, some)
una, unas, alguna, algunas (a, an, some)
Examples:
el libro---the book, los libros---the books
la mesa---the table, las mesas---the tables
un libro---a book, unos libros---some books
una mesa----a table, unas mesas---some tables
Generally, el goes with masculine, singular nouns, and la goes
with feminine, singular nouns.
i.e. el banco, la iglesia
However, there are a few exceptions: i.e. la mano, el problema
At this stage, don’t be overly concerned with this, but it is still
good to know.